Goodwill Industries International is committed to advancing employment, education and skill-building opportunities for individuals across the globe.

In addition to our 165 member agencies in the United States and Canada, Goodwill also has a presence in 14 other countries. Through our work with partners and individuals dedicated to addressing poverty and unemployment for people with disabilities and other challenges to finding jobs, we’re committed to advancing our proven model on a global scale.

Local Reach

Over the years, countless Goodwill® leaders have traveled the world spreading the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to work, build their skills and increase their financial stability. This powerful vision resulted in the establishment of a number of international Goodwill-affiliated agencies.

Many international Goodwills were formed in the 1970s and still exist today. In fact, our oldest international member, Instituto de Buena Voluntad, was founded in 1925 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Today,13 organizations around the world call themselves Goodwill. Each has worked diligently to create opportunities for people with disabilities and has its own story to tell. Some have faced significant natural disasters, political or military coups, financial crises and other disruptions. Their perseverance speaks to their dedication to advancing our mission.

Goodwills are independent organization governed by a voluntary board of directors. Each considers its country’s unique social and economic climate when developing programs and services that enable citizens to become economically self-sufficient, support their families and build better communities.

Growing Globally

We believe our entrepreneurial approach is needed to tackle the worldwide issues of poverty and unemployment. For over one hundred years, we have worked with local communities to respond to individual, family and community crises. We stand ready to scale up our proven model, combining services and sustainability across the globe.

Our growth is dependent on individuals who have championed our international development efforts as well as organizations that have partnered with us in any number of ways.

There are several ways you can help us spread our mission of empowering individuals to reach their fullest potential through the power of work.

Read more about the individuals and organizations that have contributed to our growth.

Contact us if you’re an organization or individual interested in partnering with Goodwill.

Make a difference by supporting our global efforts with a financial gift.

Goodwill Industries of Korea was formed to provide job training and career services to people with disabilities and others who are trying to enter the workforce. Goodwill Industries of Korea has been in existence for nine years and serves as the national organization for Goodwill Industries International in the republic of Korea. It is comprised of 4 affiliates throughout Korea that operate ten stores where the majority of the employees have disabilities in order for them to receive employment and training skills.

Goodwill Industries International and The Together Foundation have partnered together to expand the Goodwill Industries® mission and social enterprise model in South Korea. Together, the organizations will create a social welfare model of creating jobs and support for people with disabilities as historically, the Korean culture has not been conducive to empowering people with disabilities. The aggressive growth plan includes opening up 100 stores, serving 3,000 people with disabilities and creating 1,000 jobs for people with disadvantages over the next five years, specifically within the network of Goodwill affiliates in the cities of Busan, Seoul and Suwon.

Goodwill Industries International and São Paulo based non-profit AVAPE (Association for Valuing People with Disabilities) have joined together to bring the Goodwill social enterprise model to São Paulo, Brazil. AVAPE-operated Goodwill donated goods retail stores will transform donations from the growing upper and middle class Brazilian communities into job training and placement services for people with disabilities and other obstacles to self-sustaining employment. The retail stores will be fully mission integrated with AVAPE program participants with disabilities comprising the majority of Goodwill store staff. The first Goodwill store in São Paulo is set to open in November 2014.

The Asociacion Panamena de Industrias de Buena Voluntad (Panamanian Association of Goodwill Industries) traces its roots back to September 14, 1970, when a group of people began collecting clothing and household supplies for Panamanian residents in need. Initially operating out of a local church’s basement, the organization later obtained land from the government in, what was at the time, the outskirts of the city. As the organization raised more money, it began building facilities and expanding services to include training and employment for people with disabilities and those who were unemployed.

The organization has faced numerous challenges throughout its history, the most significant being the destruction and looting of its buildings during uprisings related to the United States’ invasion of Panama in the late 1980s. Goodwill Panama credits this event with providing the impetus to gain more support, rebuild its facilities and expand its services. During that period of rebuilding, the organization received $50,000 from Goodwill Industries International.

Goodwill Panama offers professional training to young people and adults with disabilities, along with basic labor and vocational training in production workshops. Additionally, it offers technology training and labor adaptation in an integrated setting through the Alliance with Commerce and Industry (ACI) program. The program provides placement opportunities of up to four months for its participants. During this time, individuals receive paid job training in the areas of administration, production, packing, janitorial and food service. Upon completion of the apprenticeship, individuals may be hired directly.

Goodwill Panama offers vocational training in areas such as blacksmithing, beauty, plumbing, baking, gardening and landscaping, and sewing. The agency operates as a social enterprise; only 2 percent of its revenue comes from financial donations. In addition to the ACI program, income is earned through the following commercial activities: repair and retail sales of donated goods, repair and retail sales of bicycles and wheelchairs, manufacture and retail sale of iron doors, a small restaurant and catering service, and packaging and assembly.

In 2014, Goodwill Industries International partnered with the SOTEK Foundation to establish the Goodwill social enterprise model in Finland. SOTEK was established in 2004 and provides job training and placement services for people with physical and intellectually disabilities and others with challenges to employment in the Kotka-Hamina region of Finland. The organization provides services for 400 people a day and 800 per year at its 14 locations including workforce training, rehabilitation, coaching, placement with a goal to maintain and improve the individual’s ability to work and function in society. SOTEK also works to create job opportunities and inclusion opportunities through government contract services and donated goods retail stores. Goodwill Suomi (Finland) opened its first store in Kotka, Finland, in October of 2014 and plan to open two additional stores in by the end of 2014.

The organization is a member of the Association of Training and Social Service Foundations, known as Oktetti ry, which is comprised of 15 nonprofit organizations with similar missions throughout Finland. Through building out the Goodwill model, SOTEK hopes to build its capacity to deliver mission services and ultimately deepen its impact in its community.

Goodwill Industries of the West Indies was established in 1955, in Port of Spain. It has held associate member status since 1968.

Goodwill Industries of the West Indies offers exceptional and effective services within its employment training program to people with disabilities. Its key areas of operations include work adjustment, occupational skills training, job placement and work services.

Participants enrolled in the program are exposed to an array of specific trade courses to enhance work skills. Courses available include basic remedial education, independent living skills and work behaviors, printing, bookbinding, hair styling, food preparation, furniture refinishing and production, and textile sewing. Additionally, the organization fulfills a variety of employment contracts that allow hands-on training in a real work environment. Goodwill West Indies generates 40 percent of its revenue from its retail store. The revenue helps fund business services, along with job training for people with disabilities in the fields of culinary arts, woodworking, and hair and beauty.

Goodwill Venezuela’s employment program provides professional services in the areas of occupational evaluation, work adjustment, vocational training and job placement for people with disabilities between the ages of 16 and 46. Work adjustment activities often include remedial academic instruction, electronics training, occupational therapeutic projects, and basic computer literacy.

The Goodwill also coordinates social and recreational activities that include musical programs and community field trips. For job placement initiatives, preparation for interviews and job coaching is provided during an orientation period, along with a follow-up meeting after the two-week trial work period is completed. Goodwill Venezuela strives to make a strong match between its program participants and local employers, ultimately creating long-lasting relationships.

The organization operates several businesses that provide job training opportunities and generate revenue to fund its services, including a donated goods retail store amd a small appliance repair shop. It also has a packaging contract with a local chocolate manufacturer.

Goodwill Industries of the Philippines provide persons with disabilities with the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential as an individual, participate and contribute fully in all aspects of a productive life. The organization aims to enhance the quality and dignity of life for persons with disabilities through the power of work by eliminating barriers to opportunity for people with special needs, and by facilitating skill empowerment, self-help and service.

Dr. Severino N. Luna founded the Goodwill Industries of the Philippines, Inc. (GIPI) on December 5, 1975 in Pañaque with 14 co-founders.

Goodwill Industries of the Philippines provides rehabilitation, job training, and opportunities for personal growth that prepare persons with disabilities to become ready to enter the competitive labor market. The organization believes that work has the power to transform lives by building self-confidence, independence, creativity, trust and friendship. Everyone deserves a chance to have these, and the Goodwill provides the chance. Goodwill Industries of the Philippines also runs a retail store that helps fund the organization’s services, while providing employment opportunities and affordable goods to the community.

While it is known principally as a charitable organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, GIPI also serves low income earners and the community as a whole. For more than 3 decades, GIPI truly lived up to its name, spreading goodwill and helping hand to persons with disabilities. From humble beginnings, Goodwill Industries of the Philippines has grown by leaps and bounds over the years to continue to be a great service to persons with disabilities (PWDs) and disadvantaged. At present, it aims to further reach out to more PWDs within its community and surrounding areas for it strongly believes that every individual should have the opportunity to enjoy the benefit of full and equal participation in society.

Goodwill Industries of Thailand began in 1966 with the aim of assisting persons with disabilities to earn a living for themselves and for their families.

Kanittha Dhevinpudi is the chairperson of Goodwill Industries of Thailand. According to her, “Perceptions of people with disabilities are changing. Instead of thinking they need charity, now they are seen as capable of being contributing members of society.”

Goodwill Italia was the first entity to be given affiliate status under Goodwill Industries International’s new international membership structure. Incorporated in 2001, it is the only secular organization that provides employment-related services in Italy. (Disability organizations in Italy generally focus on social assistance, not employment.)

Goodwill Italia operates the Goodwill Restaurant and Pizzeria, which generates revenue, while providing training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. After undergoing a remodeling, the restaurant reopened in October 2007, serving authentic Italian cuisine. At least one tourist book in Rome features the restaurant.

Strategically, Goodwill Italia aims to expand its services and locations this year to five regions in Italy, with a goal of serving at least 50 persons per location. Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) serves as the sponsor for Goodwill Italia.

Since 1981, when the Goodwill in Taiwan was founded, the economy has undergone dramatic growth, creating new opportunities for employment for Goodwill trainees. “When we started, watch repair was an excellent training program that led to a 98-percent placement rate,” said Woody Lam, the current chairman of the board of directors. From its inception, the Goodwill has been guided by the concept that it is better to teach a person how to fish than to simply give him a fish.

Goodwill Taiwan has work training programs that focus on computer training; the organization serves about 300 people.

The Instituto de Buena Voluntad (Goodwill Uruguay) was founded in 1925 by Methodist Pastor E. Smith. From the beginning, the organization focused on working with unemployed people and persons with disabilities, especially people living in poverty. The organization collected furniture and other goods and had workshops that focused fixing and preparing the articles for retail sale. In 1993, the organization began to receive containers of clothing for resale from the United States; however, a 1995 law prohibited such containers. This created a crisis in the organization as it sought to redefine its purpose and achieve self sustainability. Today the Goodwill has developed a variety of training workshops that help people learn how to become successful in Uruguayan society.

The mission of The Instituto de Buena Voluntad is to offer young people and adults with social, physical or biological vulnerabilities, an educational, recreational and work-based project to help them achieve labor and social integration.

Goodwill Uruguay has nine different workshops: literacy, art therapy, carpentry, cooking and baking, communication, sewing and design, landscaping and gardening, computer training, and cosmetology. The programs aim to promote the holistic development of the people they serve — to stimulate their interests, values and aptitudes. Each workshop is designed to teach a specific job skill, while helping students learn to integrate socially.

Industrias de Buena Voluntad de Costa Rica has a seat on the Costa Rican Counsel for Persons with Disabilities. It runs a rehabilitation center in San José, providing people with disabilities opportunities to gain skills necessary to enter the workplace and become independent, contributing members of society.

An alliance between the Ekstein House and Goodwill resulted in the creation of Goodwill-Israel.

In partnership with Manpower Israel and Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh, Ekstein House/Goodwill-Israel is planning to offer a pilot welfare-to-work program in Israel.